Container gluing machine



Sept. 20, 1938. s. BERGSTEIN 2,130,786

CONTAINER GLUING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1.935 4 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR.v SAM/4 B51965 r//v.

ATTORNEYS- ep 1938- s. BERGSTEIN CONTAINER GLUING MACHINE 1935 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 21,

INVENTOR. SAMUEL Ba ms 750v.

' I ATTORNEYS.

M RN Sept. 20, 1938. s. BERGSTEIN I CONTAINER GLUING MACHINE 4Shets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 21, 1935 w, h 9 w & I m E w \\\M\\\ &w G W O llH I: Q I m m a, m L J. 7 F B 6 7 a 7 9 m 0 5 2 U w EA 5 M 2 m m l 3 5 mW .3 2 4 5 7 8 4 4 7 T 0 I 2 n 4 2 8 0 7 i M W 3 n E 6 3 H n .k- {I 6 qn a u 7 l 2 5 5 .n 0 .r 5 u a u a 3 I m Wf A o o 8 o 1 I o m 00. 3 w G 76 3 3 I H Patented Sept. 2.0;1938

UNITED STATES CONTAINER GLUING MACHINE Samuel Bergstein, Cincinnati;Ohio, assignor to Edna May Bergsteln and Robert Morris Bergstein, astrustees Application October 21, 1935, Serial No. 45,975

7 Claims.

My invention relates to machines for gluing containers and cartons, andparticularly to machines for gluingcartons which are to be used ascontainers for oils or other liquids, although it is not limitedthereto. In cartons of this type a it is necessary to provide for leakproofing, and in my invention novel means are used for this purpose.

It has been suggested, in the gluing and sealing of cartons which areintended to contain liquids, to partially render the cartons leak-proofby spreading heavier beads of glue along certain portions of suchcartons, whereby the glue along those portions renders the joints in thecarton leak-proof. Further, the carton, as manufactured and ready forfilling, may be sealed at one end, and have a scalable opening, with anunsealed closure flap, at the other end.

In this connection, it is an object of my invention to form heavierbeads of glue on closure flaps of the carton in a predetermined patternand in a novel and simple manner. It is also an object of my inventionto provide a machine upon which both ends of such a carton may besealed, the pattern of glue application on one of the side closure flapsof each end being the same, while the opposed closure flaps at said endshave adhesive applied in different patterns.

Since the gluing up of the sealed end of the carton entails certaindifferent problems than the gluing up of the open end, and ordinarilydifferent mechanisms would be necessary to perform these operations, itis another object of my invention to provide a single machine which isso designed and constructed that it will glue up both ends of the cartonwith due regard to the requirements of gluing the different ends.

It is also an object of my invention to provide novel means fordistributing the heavier bead of glue on the carton, and for placing thebead in a predetermined pattern of glue application on the carton. Withthis object in mind it is a further object of my invention to insurethat no glue or bead of glue is placed on the carton except in thedesired places.

Additional objects comprise the provision of means for insuring a betterbond of the adhesive, and the provision of means whereby the entrance ofthe glue into the joints to be sealed is facilitated.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forthhereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon readingthese specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction andarrangement of parts, of which I shall (01. ill-36.4)

now describe a preferred embodiment. Reference is now made to thedrawings, which form a part hereof:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the open end of a carton in connectionwith which I have described my invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view in perspective, showing generally themovement of the partially finished carton through my machine.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of my machine.

Fig. 3a is an elevation of one of the cam wheels.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the guide rails.

Fig. '7 is a plan view of one of the carton supporting blocks used forsupporting the carton during the bottom sealing operation.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of one of the carton supporting blocks used forsupporting the carton during the top sealing operation.

Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken'on the line 9--9 of Fig. 3.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I take a partially finishedcarton, such as is shown in various stages of completion in Fig. 2, andfinish the same except for sealing the open end, so that the carton isready for filling. The carton is preferably of rectangular crosssection, having four end flaps at each end. The bottom flaps are ofconventional design, but the flaps at the top are somewhat different. InFig. 2, i represents the carton body, having bottom flaps 2a and 2b, andtop flaps 3a, 3b, and 30. In the completed carton, the top flaps 3b arefolded down, the flap 3a is folded down upon the flaps 3b and glued tothem, and finally the flap 3c is bent on the line 3d and partially gluedto the top of the flap 3a. The bottom flaps 2b are then folded inwardly,and then the flaps 2a are folded down upon them and glued to them and toeach other. The top of the finished carton is shown in Fig. 1, where itis ready for filling.

Generally speaking, my machine comprises a series of supporting blocksof two kinds, arranged to travel past the glue wheels in alternatingsequence. One kind of supporting block is for supporting the carton forthe top gluing operation, and the other kind is for supporting thecarton for the bottom gluing operation. These blocks will be describedin detail later, and are not shown in Fig. 2. In the interest of clearun-. derstanding, I shall now describe the travel of the carton throughthe machine, describing the operations performed upon it without at thistime describing the parts of the machine itself.

The carton I is shown initially entering the machine at the position Bin Fig. 2. It will be noted that the top of the carton is upward, and isglued first. After passing the glue rolls, the carton appears as shownat D, and it will be noted that a film of adhesive has been appliedcovering the flap 3a, and that heavier beads of adhesive have beenapplied at la and lb. The beads 4a. are placed at the ends of the creaseconnecting the flap 3a to the carton body, and these beads when set,effectively prevent leakage. The bead lb is noted to extend the lengthof the carton top, having the same effect at its ends as the beads 4a.The reason that the bead is continuous across the carton, is that thereis a scored line of fold extending longitudinally across the flap 3c andadhesive is applied only to the inner narrow portion of the flap 3c, andit would not be adequately held to the flaps 3b by two beads like thoseshown at 4a. The carton then continues through the machine, the flap 3ais folded down and glued to the flaps 3b, and then the flap 3c is gluedto the flap 3a, the adhesive being applied to this flap only on theinner portion bounded by the score line 3d.

From this position, the carton passes around the machine to the point ofentrance, where it is removed from its support, inverted, and placedupon an alternately succeeding support which is designed to hold thecarton during the bottom sealing operation. The carton is shown in thisposition at A, with the non-adhesive coated portion of the flap 3cfolded down at an angle to the secured portion of this flap. Afterpassing the glue rolls in its second trip therepast, the carton appearsas shown at C in Fig. 2. Here it will be noted that a film of adhesivehas been applied to both flaps 2a, and that heavier beads of adhesivehave been applied as before. In this instance it would not be necessaryto provide for the continuous bead lb, and two small beads, as shown atdo, would be adequate. Since the continuous bead only increases theefiectiveness of the seal at this end of the finished carton, and sinceby gluing the carton in this manner I am enabled to use the same machinefor gluing up both ends of the carton, I prefer to use the continuousbead on one, side of the bottom even though it is not essential. Inother words, an eifective seal could be made of both flaps 2a. withbeads such as are indicated at 4b. The carton then passes on and theflaps are folded down and firmly secured. At a further point along themachine, the finished carton is automatically removed from its supportand falls into a chute for finished cartons.

Having now generally described my machine and its functions, I shallproceed to a more detailed description of its various parts andmechanisms. The machine generally is of a construction which is wellknown in the art, and comprises a sprocket chain moving in an oval pathin a horizontal plane. The chain is indicated at 5, and has attached toit at intervals the supports 6 for the blocks 1 and 8. The supports 6are provided with tongues 9, which move in guide slots Hi, all as iswell known. The blocks 1 are of conventional form 1. e., rectangular,provided with stop means I l to insure proper location of the blank uponthem, and are preferably made hollow for the purposes of reducing weightand cost. These are the blocks upon which the cartons are first placedfor the top gluing operation.

The blocks 8 are of novel design, and comprise the upright members l2which are preferably also hollow, and which are shaped to fit in theopening remaining in the top after it has been glued in place. Certainmodifications were necessary on these blocks, inasmuch as there was notthe intimate contact with the carton throughout the length of the block.Ihave provided a platform l3, upon which a portion of the top of thecarton is adapted to rest. Referring to Fig. 1, the carton top 3a, issupported by this platform It. outer, unsealed, angularly folded portionof the flap 30 extends downwardly through the space indicated at 18a inFig. 8. A guide plate I4, which extends from the platform l3substantially to the top of the carton, in co-operation with an opposedshort guide plate l5, "serve to hold the carton in a steady positionwhile it passes through the machine. A bar I8, which-is screwed to themembers ll, which in turn are screwed to the platform l3, serves tosupport the outer surface of that portion of the flap 3c which is sealeddown and which extends from the fold line 8d to the corner of the cartontop, thereby insuring a thorough bond at that portion.

As the carton, mounted upon its supporting block, enters the machine,its upper end passes between the guide rails l8. These rails are spacedso as not to grip the carton tightly, and therefore means must beprovided to insure a sharp outward bend of the flaps 2a at the bottom ofthe carton, or the flaps 3a and 30 at the top of the carton, dependingon which end of the carton is being sealed. To this end, I have provideda pair of pressure rails l9, which are pivotally mounted at the points20 upon the rails l8, and spring pressed toward each other by any wellknown adjustable arrangement, such as I have indicated generally at 2|.It is to be noted by reference to Fig. 3, that the pressure rails I9 areso disposed with respect to the other parts of the machine that theyexert their pressure upon the carton at the time when the flaps 2a, orthe flaps 3a and 30, as the case may be, are being spread out by thespreader plate 22.- By these means a good angular fold is assuredbetween the flaps 2a and the carton body in one case, and the flaps 3aand 3c in the other.

The leading flap 2b or 3b, respectively, will readi be folded down asthe carton passes the sprea er palte 22. In order to insure that thetrailing flap 21) or 3b, respectively, is properly folded down under thesaid spreader plate, I provide a tucking member 23, the operatingmechanism of which I shall describe later. The carton thus passes theglue rolls, and upon emerging on the other side thereof, continues undera hold-down bar 88, which is located between the glue rolls and servesto hold the flaps 2b and 3b in the position shown in Fig. 2. Thehold-down bar 88 terminates abruptly at 89, permitting the flaps 2b and3b to spring upward momentarily under the influence of their naturalresiliency. Shortly thereafter, a second hold-down bar 98 presses theseflaps down again. This upward and downward bending of the flaps assiststhe glue in working thoroughly down into the corner joints of thecarton. The turn-over plates 24 and 25 then fold the flaps 2a. or theflaps 3a and 30, as the case may be, into bending position. While theflaps are being folded over by the members 24 and 25, a blast of airfrom the pipe 9| plays upon the adhesive covered surfaces, causing theadhesive to set more rapidly and produce a better bond. The blast isgen- The' erated by a conventional blower, indicated generally at 92 andconveniently mounted on the machine frame. The flaps are then maintainedin bonding relation by means of the pressure belt 26. The operationdescribed in the last two paragraphs is the same, regardless of whichend of the carton is being glued up. On the other side of the machine,which is not shown since all the parts thereof are well known in the artand form no part of this invention, the cartons on the blocks I passalong under pressure rolls or belts until they return to the front,whereupon they are removed from the blocks 1, inverted and placed upon asucceeding block 8. It will be noted that the latter are provided withinclined conduits 21, which connect with the bores 28 of the members l2.As the blocks 8 pass around the rear portion of the machine, the openend of the conduits 21 come into registry with a blower, whereby thefinishedcartons are removed from the blocks and pass from the machine.

I will now pass to a description of the glue wheels and their connectedmechanisms. The glue wheels are indicated at 29 and 36, and are mountedon a shaft 3|. These glue wheels are driven from the shaft 32 by meansof the chain 33 and the sprockets 34 and 35, while the shaft 32 isdriven from the. shaft 36 by means of the bevel gears 31 and 38. Theshaft 36 is 'connected to a motive means which drives this shaft intimed relation to the chain 5, which carries the carton supportingblocks. Backing rollers 31 are provided for the glue rolls, and serve topress the flaps to be covered with adhesive against the glue rolls. Therollers 31 are mounted on lever arms 38, which are pivoted at 39, andthe rod 40, which is pivoted to the other end of the arms 38, connectsthem to cam means (not shown), whereby the rollers are brought intobacking relationship to the glue rollers only while a carton is beingglued up, so that no glue will get onto the backing rollers where itwould make the backs of the flaps being glued, sticky.

From what has already been said, it will be seen that both thefiaps 2aare to be covered with a film of adhesive, while only the flap 3a at thetop of the carton is to be so covered. The fiap 3c is coated with theheavy bead of adhesive up to the fold line 3d 50 that no furtherprevious coating is necessary. For this reason, means are necessarywhereby one of the glue rolls may function each time a carton passesunder it, while the other glue roll must only function, as far as thinfilm application is concerned, on alternate cartons, so as not to applya thin film to the entire surface of the flap 3c. Theshaft 3|, whichcarries the glue rolls, is mounted in extensions 4| of the gluereservoirs 42. A portion of the glue reservoirs is cut out to admitapproximately a quadrant of the glue rolls. Also mounted in the gluereservoirs are the shaft 43 and 44, one in each reservoir, which carryscrapers 45 and 46, which bear against the glue rolls 29 and 30,respectively. By oscillation of the shafts 43 and 44, glue may beadmitted to portions of the surfaces of the rolls at appropriate times.

Levers 41 and 410, are attached to the shafts 43 a support for theadjustable stud 53, which in a clockwise oscillation (as seen in Fig.3), depresses the lever 41 and permits a flow of adhesive onto thesurface of the roll 29. The shaft 56 is rocked by the followingmechanism: Suspended from a stub shaft 54, mounted in a bracket 55 onthe side of the machine, is a weighted member 56 provided with a camsurface 56; each of the supporting blocks 1 and 6 carries a stud 51adapted to contact and elevate the weighted member 56 to the positionshown in Fig. 3; a spring 58 is provided to assist in the return to itsvertical position of the member 56; also fastened to the shaft 54 so asto move therewith is the lever 59 which, upon elevation of the weightedmember 56 is adapted to exert a downward pull on the rod 66, which ismade adjustable as shown generally at 6|; the upper end of the rod 60 ispivotally fastened to a lever 62 which is fastened to the shaft 56. Itwill thus be seen that when one of the studs 51 actuates the weightedmember 56, the scraper 45 is retracted from the roll 29 by means of thelinkage above described, whereby the roll may become coated with theadhesive.

The scraper 46 for the glue roll 36 is similarly actuated, with only thedifferences which I shall now point out. The weighted member 56 for.this portion of the mechanism is actuated by the studs 51a, which arefound only on the blocks 6, so

when the bottom end of the carton is being glued. In this case, also,the member 5la, which corresponds to the lever 5|, is loosely mounteduponthe shaft 50, whereby the scrapers 45 and 46 may be actuatedindependently and without interference.

Next, I shall describe the means by which the heavier beads of glue areapplied, and again I shall first describe the mechanism in connectionwiththe glue roll 29, later pointing out the differences which obtain inconnection with the mechanism for the roll 39. The scraper 45 isprovided near its inner end with a notch 63, which is adapted to beclosed by the end of a rod 64, which is slidably mounted in lugs 65 ontheside wall of the reservoir 42. Mounted on a pin 56 in the side wallof the reservoir is a lever 61, the other end of which carries a pin 68,which rides in a slot 69 in the lever 10, which is loosely held in placeon the shaft 1|..by collars.

v The other end of the link 12 carries a stud 13, by which it isattached to the link 14, the other end of which is loosely held inposition on the shaft 15 by the collars 16. The stud 13 also carries aroller 11, which is adapted to ride on a cam wheel I6, and a spring 19fixed to the frame at one end, and attached to the lever 10 at theother, tends to urge the roller 11 against the cam wheel 18. The camwheel 18 is mounted upon the shaft 32 so as to turn therewith, and isprovided with two risers 80, which are adjustably mounted thereupon. Itwill be noted. that the end of the rod 64 is bent over as at 64a, thisbend being adapted to lie behind the lever '6'|, and being urgedthereagainst The lever is actuated by a link 12, which is pivoted to itat a point intermediate of the slot 69 and the shaft H.

by the small spring 64b, the other end of which The mechanism foractuating the rod 64 for the glue wheel 30 is only slightly differentfrom that described above. In this case the cam wheel 18 is providedwith a single riser 8|, which extends around the cam wheel a distanceequivalent to that from the beginning of the first riser to the end ofthe second riser 80 on the cam wheel for the glue wheel 29. Thus the rod64 for the glue wheel 30 is retracted to make one long head as shown at41) in Fig. 2, while the two beads 4a are being formed by the other rod64. In this case, also, the lever llla, which corresponds to the lever10, is fixed to the shaft H, and is not direc'ly connected to its link12. The connection in this case is through a short lever 82, which isalso fixed to the shaft H, and which corresponds to the upper portion ofthe lever ll! from the pivot H to the connection with the link 12.

Also mounted upon the shaft 32 is a cam wheel 83 (Fig. 4) which isprovided inone of its faces with a non-circular cam groove in which apin on the link 84 is adapted to ride. The other end of the link 84, asshown in Figure 3, is pivotally connected to one arm 85 of a bell crankmember which is pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine at 86. Theother arm 81 of the bell crank member bears the tucking member 23, thefunction of which was pointed out earlier in the specification.

It is to be understood that different forms of my preferred embodimentmay be made without departing from the spirit of my invention;

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for gluing end flaps of paper cartons, a pair of gluerolls, an adhesive'supply for feeding adhesive onto said rolls, means topermit the feeding of adhesive onto either of said rolls independently,or onto both of said rolls concurrently, according to a predeterminedpattern of glue application, comprising means to regulate a normal filmof adhesive over the main surface of said rolls and means for regulatingan abnormally heavy film on predetermined portions of said rolls.

2. In a machine for gluing end flaps of paper cartons, a supportingblock for holding a carton portions of an end of which has been scaledand in which an aperture remains which is coverable by a fiap, saidblock being shaped to fit within said aperture and support the other endof said carton for gluing, a platform upon which the inverted top end ofthe carton is adapted to be supported, an aperture in said platform forthe reception of said last named flap, and guide means extendingupwardly from said carton and adapted to hold said carton rigidly inposition upon said block.

3. A machine for gluing end flaps of a paper carton having an aperturein the top which is closable by a hinged flap, comprising endlessconveyor means, supporting blocks for said carton upon said conveyor,said blocks having two different forms, one having a standard form forsupporting a carton for the top sealing operation, and the other havinga form shaped so as to extend through an opening extending through acarton end and being provided with means for supporting the carton flapsat the opposite end of the carton during the sealing operation.

4. In a machine of the class described, having a glue roll and aretractable scraper therefor, a notch in said scraper to permit aheavier fiow of adhesive therethrough, and means to partially block theflow of adhesive therethrough at definite intervals according to apredeter mined pattern of proposed glue application.

5. In a machine of the class described, having means to hold down theleading and trailing end flaps of a carton during the gluing operation,and means for applying adhesive in a predetermined pattern to side endflaps of said carton so that beads are applied adjacent corner crevicesof said flaps, means to interrupt the holding down of said first namedflaps momentarily and permit said flaps to spring upwardly of their ownresiliency to work the heavier beads of adhesive down thoroughly intothe corner crevices, for the purpose described.

6. A machine for gluing end flaps of paper cartons, comprising endlessconveyer means and bending means, pressure means in cooperative relationwith said bending means, hold down means for the leading and trailingend fiaps, means for applying adhesive in predetermined patterns to sideend flaps of paper cartons so that beads are applied adjacent cornercrevices of said flaps, and means to interrupt the holding down of saidfirst named flaps momentarily and permit them to spring upwardly oftheir own resiliency, so as to press the heavier beads of adhesive downthoroughly into the corner crevices.

7. In a machine for gluing end flaps of paper cartons, a pair of gluerolls, a reservoir for adhesive, a pair of scrapers for controlling thefiow of adhesive to said rolls, notches in said scrapers, means to blockthe flow of adhesive through said notches, and means to control thefunctions of the scrapers and notches independently each of each other.

SAMUEL BERGSTEIN.

